吹小号的天鹅 第21期:路易斯(5)

 　　"Do not let an unnatural¹ sadness settle over you, Louis," said the cob. "Swans must be cheerful, not sad; graceful², not awkward; brave, not cowardly.

　　“不要让不正常的悲伤把你击倒，路易斯，”雄天鹅说，“天鹅一定要快乐，不要悲伤；要优雅，不要笨拙；要勇敢，不要怯懦。

　　Remember that the world is full of youngsters who have some sort of handicap that they must overcome.

　　要记住，这世上到处都是有某种障碍要去克服的年轻人。

　　You apparently³ have a speech defect. I am sure you will overcome it, in time.

　　你显然是有语言缺陷的。我相信你早晚能战胜它的。

　　There may even be some slight advantage, at your age, in not being able to say anything.

　　在你这个年纪，不能说话反倒可能会有一点点的好处呢。

　　It compels you to be a good listener.

　　这会让你成为一个好听众的。

　　The world is full of talkers, but it is rare to find anyone who listens.

　　这世上到处都是说客，但却很难找到一个听众。

　　And I assure you that you can pick up more information when you are listening than when you are talking."

　　我保证你在听别人说的时候比你自己说的时候能得到更多的收获。”

　　"My father does quite a lot of talking himself," thought Louis.

　　“我爸爸就是个特别能说的。”路易斯想。

　　"Some people," continued the cob, "go through life chattering⁴ and making a lot of noise with their mouth;

　　“有些人，”雄天鹅继续道，“终其一生都在喋喋不休，用他们的嘴巴制造出无数的噪音；

　　they never really listen to anything--they are too busy expressing their opinions, which are often unsound or based on bad information.

　　他们从来没有真正倾听过什么——他们太忙于发表他们自己的意见了，其实他们的意见往往是从别人那里听来的，或者是错误的。

　　Therefore, my son, be of good cheer! Enjoy life; learn to fly! Eat well; drink well! Use your ears; use your eyes!

　　因此，我的儿子，要振作起来！享受生活；学会飞翔！好好吃，好好喝！运用你的耳朵；运用你的眼睛！

　　And I promise that someday I will make it possible for you to use your voice.

　　我保证总有一天我会让你用上你的嗓子的！

　　There are mechanical devices that convert air into beautiful sounds.

　　我知道有一种能把空气转变成美丽的声音的机械装置。

　　One such device is called a trumpet⁵.

　　这种东西叫小号。

　　I saw a trumpet once, in my travels.

　　我曾经在旅途中见过一把小号。

　　I think you may need a trumpet in order to live a full life.

　　我认为你大概需要一把小号才能使你的生活圆满。

　　I've never known a Trumpeter Swan to need a trumpet, but your case is different.

　　我从不知道一个号手天鹅居然会需要一把小号，不过你的情况特殊。

　　I intend to get you what you need.

　　我打算给你弄到你所需要的。

　　I don't know how I will manage this, but in the fullness of time it shall be accomplished⁶.

　　我还不知道怎么才能办得到，但以后会有办法的。

　　And now that our talk has come to a close, let us return gracefully⁷ to the other end of the pond, where your mother and your brothers and sisters await us!"

　　现在我们的谈话该结束了，让我们用优美的姿势游回到池塘的另一头吧。你的妈妈和哥哥姐姐们在等着我们呢！”

　　The cob turned and swam off. Louis followed.

　　雄天鹅转身往回游。路易斯跟着他。

　　It had been an unhappy morning for him.

　　对他来说，这真是个不开心的早晨。

　　He felt frightened at being different from his brothers and sisters. It scared him to be different.

　　知道了自己和哥哥姐姐们不同以后，他感到害怕了。这一点吓坏了他。

　　He couldn't understand why he had come into the world without a voice.

　　他不明白为什么自己生来就没有嗓子。

　　Everyone else seemed to have a voice. Why didn't he?

　　所有的人似乎都有嗓子。为什么他没有？

　　"Fate is cruel," he thought. "Fate is cruel to me."

　　“命运真残酷，” 他想，“命运对我太残酷了。”

　　Then he remembered that his father had promised to help, and he felt better.

　　接着他想起了父亲许诺过要帮助他，心情这才好了一点儿。

　　Soon they joined the others, and everyone started water games, and Louis joined in, dipping and splashing and diving and twisting.

　　不久他们来到了其他人的身边，大家正在水里游戏呢，路易斯也加入过去跟大家一起汲水泼水，潜水转圈儿。

　　Louis could splash water farther than any of the others, but he couldn't shout while he was doing it.

　　路易斯能把水泼得比别人都高，可他在泼水时却不能喊出声来。

　　To be able to shout while you are splashing water is half the fun.

　　泼水的时候你可以大喊大叫，泼水的一半乐趣就在这里。

1 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

2 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

5 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

6 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

7 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。